My parents have a now 11-12 year old Sheltie that is the sweetest dog ever, with one drive you crazy habit. If he finds out you are on the phone, he barks to high heaven, pitched worse than my Pomeranian. They sent him off to boarding school when young, and my Mother subsequently used the yelling technique to get good behavior. They never cured the barking, nor were consistent in training for it. Mother passed away this summer, and Dad still wants to travel. He was planning to board Thomas a his vet, who still uses the steel cages to keep boards, with one or two stretches a day. Thomas has bad arthritis, that is the worst thing you could do, so he will be staying with me for the 4 days. He obeys me on sit and stays easily, no doubt he respects my leadership. But the barking needs better control, if only for my poor cats. Can you give me any training suggestions for this scenario, I am sure you have dealt with it? Without Mother, Dad's itchy feet have taken hold and he has trips planned for every month between now and Christmas, so I will have several 4 day weekends to work on it...

terry

I am so sorry for your loss and no doubt Sheltie is feeling lost. I have a barker and just got a lot of replies - see post about small dog barking.

I would tend to take my phone call in bathroom, because it is the easier way. Try the distraction - offer treat or... maybe have a Kong ready when he/she starts and offer that.

Since dog has never been trained or broken of this habit not sure you can do. Sounds like this was you moms dog, not dads?

I have barkers and am still trying.

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tesschron...I can relate. Shelties are barkers by nature. They have been called "The barkiest breed" Shelties being herders bark to keep the herd in line along with nipping at the legs of whatever they are herding. When I get a new sheltie in they bark like the one your parents have...at everything. New things that are unfamiliar to them elicit a shrill bark in many of the breed. When my dogs do this I sdimply get down to their level and tell them this is ok to let me know something unknown to them is intruding on their space, but that it is "enough" when they are barking. Shelties learn very quickly, and by letting them know you are aware of something when they start reacting to whatever it is, and commanding them by saying enough in a loud voice, they get the hint after after a loud command and some reassurance. Some shelties never get over the need to bark, but calm reassurance will lessen the insessent bark at things that may signal him to "warn you" that something unfamilar is happening or approaching.

Doxie why did you say I was probably feeling lost on this? Distraction for me is the calm reassurance. This has worked wonderfully for me

I forgot to add...never reward a dog with a treat when they are doing something you are trying to curb. This just signals them to bark at everything knowing a treat awaits them for doing this. It does not work for shelties since they are food driven. I never give my shelties treats when I am training them and frankly they seem to respond more to the fact that NOT doing something rewards them with affection since they are also known to respond more to affection then treats. Their whole life is that "they aim to please" despite what the Dog Whisper may say

A good way of teaching a dog to stop barking is by teaching it TO SPEAK!
Easier said than done of course but it does work.
I don't understand why you wouldn't use treats to train a dog that WAS food motivated. That's half the battle!!
A dog can't bark if it is eating....at least mine doesn't.
One sure fire way to keep a dog barking is to yell at it to stop.
They equate our yelling as a bark....they bark....we bark (yell)....they *think* they are doing the same thing we are, no matter who started it.

cami...shelties are way smarter then that. They think you are trying to "outbark" them and trust me it does get worse. Giving a treat to a dog to convince it not to bark is like rewarding bad bahavior. What works for less intelligent dogs, does not always work for the more intelligent ones. I have been working exclusively with shelties for a long time. Cesare does not impress me with this limited handling of shelties and how he thinks they should be trained. I have no issues with my dogs and training them. I have several agility dogs and have never had any issues training them without giving them treats

Sheltie, appreciate the tip - I have tried to interrupt the process when visiting Dad, and by golly, Tommy ain't shutting up til he is finished telling me what he needs to say. If I break the barking for a moment, he moans and groans til the bark erupts again, until he is finished. I have tried a sit and stay, which works on my Pom, but not on Tommy. Some of that is probably because my mother encouraged him to talk. Ironically, she would yell, "Shut up" at him, and he would grumble himself into silence. (used the same technique with us kids, with much the same reaction ) He is a very smart dog, So I will try getting at his level, thanking him for the notice, and doing a command word, probably Enough like I use with the Pommie. Wish me luck,

terry

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tesschron,

Best of luck terry. Just keep doing it and he will catch on in a short time

Forgot to mention, in reference to other suggestions; Poms are not known for their "quiet" habits, and mine is no different. Since he barked all the time anyway, I did teach him to associate "Speak" with bark. Then rewarded him with a treat. Then we worked into "Shush". Speak, treat. I stand still with the "Cesar" look, "Shush" he waits, no noise, "good Shush", treat. Noise, say nothing, turn back, come around, Shush, he sits quiet, good Shush, treat. The length of time I wait to say "good Shush" and treat gradually expanded from 2 seconds to minutes. AT first, I would occassionally have to start at the beginning again with speak, but,With him it worked. But not with the Sheltie...

terry

tess, unfortunately with shelties they do get bored easily. I have found routine commands with shelties sometimes need a twist or they get defiant and need things to vary occassionally. Shelties may be smart...but they also get bored with the same old.

OMG how senile of me not to explain myself more. Sorry Sheltie Collector, when I said Sheltie - I didn't mean you "Collector" - I meant the sheltie dog must be lost without the woman she lived with... had to think about that and then the DAWNED BROKE. Sorry about that :

oh Doxie...I am so sorry I misunderstood what you were saying. Thank you for explaining

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